RUBY RIDING HOOD
by RuchaGoddessOfPurgatory
Summary: This is the story of Ruby's life before she became a huntress and her ascension to awesomeness. I started writing this right after the Red trailer so it will not have any of the details or characters from the cannon story line. So that means no Beacon or Signal academy, no Yang, etc. This is my very first fanfiction, so please be gentle. DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN RWBY OR RUBY ROSE.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one- eyes

Ruby was a normal girl growing up with a kind and caring family. Her family lived in a little cottage in the woods, only a few miles from the nearby town. Ruby lived with her mother, father, and grandmother. They were not rich, but not poor either. In other words, they were happy. They may have had a normal life, but Ruby's mother always told her that she was special. Ruby asked her why, but her mother would just smile and say, "You will find out eventually."

In a way, Ruby was special. She was always looking out for others. She was always willing to help someone or something that needed it. She was the most selfless person in the whole town, or so her mother had said. But Ruby didn't understand how that made her special.

When Ruby grew to the age of nine, Ruby was asked by her mother to go into town to buy some flour and dough so grandma could bake a cake. They dressed her in a short red cloak and hood than ran to her mid back. Ruby put on some boots, and picked up a basket to carry the goods home with, and set out into the forest.

After a few minutes, she was halfway to the town. Ruby kept walking and smiled all the way. Another few minutes passed by and she was almost into town when she heard a rustling in the bushes nearby. Ruby stopped and held her breath, looking at the bushes. More rustling was heard, and then out jumped a small dear. Ruby sighed in relief and smiled at the thing. It stared at her for a second and then began to eat some berries on a nearby tree. Ruby walked on until she got to town. She pulled out a map that her mom gave her and looked it over, trying to find the bakery. She found it and folded up her map and put it away.

Ruby walked along the side of the road, occasionally smiling and saying hi to passing people, who either smiled back or simply waved. No one said anything to her about being alone; this town had had no accidents, crimes, or bad happenings for many years.

When she got to the bakery, she walked in and went up to the front counter. A nice old woman was sitting in a rocking chair and reading a newspaper, she appeared to not realize that she had company. So Ruby spoke up, "E-excuse me miss?" the old woman laid her paper upon her lap and looked up. "Eh?" she said in a somewhat surprised tone, just realizing the customer. She sat up and smiled at Ruby, she had a wrinkled but kind face; her eyes drooped slightly behind her glasses. Her grey hair was tied into a bun, and she was a bit plump. She looked over the counter and smiled at Ruby.

"Hello darling," she said in a kind elderly voice, "how may I help you?" Ruby was a bit shy, so she spoke quietly and cautiously, "um, I'm here to get some goods for my grandma." The old woman looked at her curiously, "Your grandma?" she asked, "what kind of goods would she like?" Ruby remembered exactly what her mother had asked for, so she quoted what she learned to the old lady, "um, she wants two pounds of flour, and one and a half pounds of Swedish dough."

The old woman's eyes lit up, "Oh, so old Miss Daisy is making one of her famous cakes is she?" she asked excitedly, "I didn't know that Daisy had a granddaughter, what's your name dear?" Ruby looked up in surprise, "my, my name is Ruby, do you know my grandma?" she asked. The old woman chuckled, "Everyone in this town knows your grandmother, and she makes the best cakes in town."

She went to the back room next to the counter. Ruby waited for her to come back, and she looked over the counter to see what was on the newspaper. Ruby wasn't an expert reader yet, but she was still good. She saw on the front page in bold words: WARNING, MYSTERY CREATURE KILLING LOCAL LIVESTOCK. Ruby didn't get to read any more as the old woman returned with the ingredients that Ruby had asked for. Ruby stood back, wondering what the paper was talking about.

The old lady smiled and handed the goods to the girl, "Tell your grandma that Sonia says hello." Ruby placed the goods in her basket and looked up to the old woman. "I will, thank you!" she said excitedly before running out of the shop. Ruby ran in excitement until she got to the woods, when she slowed back down to a nice slow stroll. With her basket tucked under her arm, she merrily strode through the trees. The girl could imagine how wonderful the cake would taste and how proud her parents would be with her for doing the task all by herself.

But she was pulled out of her thoughts by an unholy stench. Ruby wrinkled her nose in disgust and looked around for the source of the smell. She wandered around, not realizing she was straying from the trail her parents told her to stay on. Ruby kept her basket tucked under her arm as she made her way through a large bush. When she got through she was in a small open area surrounded by trees, there was not much light shining through the thick branches. Ruby rubbed her eyes and looked around, and then something caught her eye. She looked down at the object on the ground and gasped, nearly vomiting.

On the ground was the dear she saw earlier, but it had been killed. No, killed was not accurate, it had been completely mutilated. It was covered with all sorts of deep, long, bloody cuts. It's right back leg was gone, antlers broken, and eyes and mouth bleeding. It looked like some animal had torn into the poor beast and eaten most of it, muscle and bone and organs were showing, there were chunks of flesh torn away, blood and remains were everywhere. And there was a blood trail coming from where the leg was torn off.

Ruby's eyes followed the trail to a large dark brush. The shadows were very thick and she could see no light beyond that brush. Suddenly Ruby heard a low, feral growl. She froze and looked right into the brush. Then, slowly, a pair of big, red, evil eyes opened in the darkness and looked right at Ruby. Ruby stood rooted to the spot, mouth agape, eyes wide in fright. A thought passed through her mind as she stared into those big red eyes that seemed to bore into her soul. It was the memory of what she read on the newspaper in the bakery; WARNING, MYSTERY CREATURE KILLING LOCAL LEVESTOCK.

Ruby turned and sprinted through the bushes and branches, fearing for her life. She heard the sound of growling and something large crashing through vegetation. Ruby ran and ran, trying to find the path, only to find it was not where she thought it was. She was lost in the woods. Ruby turned right and ran as fast as she could, Ruby could hear whatever was chasing her was gaining, the growls getting closer, the crashing louder. The girl began to cry in fright, she was so terrified.

Suddenly Ruby tripped on a root and fell; she got up quickly and kept running. She felt under her arm to see if the basket was damaged, only to find it wasn't there. Ruby widened her eyes and turned around. She had dropped the basket. Ruby didn't want to disappoint her parents and grandma, so she ran back the way she came to where she dropped the basket. Her hood suddenly caught of a twig and she squealed. She quickly broke off the branch and continued to run, desperately trying to retrieve her basket. Her grandma had weaved that basket for Ruby for her birthday, she could not just leave it behind, and she didn't want to hurt her grandma's feelings.

Ruby reached the root where she fell and spotted her basket. She quickly ran to it and scooped it up and stood up. But she stopped; the growling and crashing had stopped. Ruby looked around, wondering if she had gotten away. But then she heard a loud growl and she spun around to see those big red eyes watching her in the darkness. Ruby turned to run away, when another pair of big, red, evil, eyes opened in front of her.

She gasped and ran a different direction, trying to get away from the wild things. She kept running, the growls and crashing were following her relentlessly. The sun had begun to set and the sky was turning dark, she stopped to catch her breath.

I have to get out of here, Ruby thought to herself. Ruby looked at herself; she was covered in scrapes, dirt, mud, and dead vegetation. Her clothes were torn in many places, and her basket was starting to show signs of wear and tear. Ruby looked up into the dark trees ahead and began to head forwards.

But she stopped when another pair of those feral eyes opened up in front of her in the shadows and growled, she gasped and turned around to run back the way she came but saw the two pairs of eyes from earlier staring at her in the shadows. Ruby screamed and turned to the right, and another growl came, stopping her escape. Another pair of eyes opened, and then another, and another, and another. She looked all around, tears of terror in her eyes, and realized she was surrounded by the eyes. Those evil eyes that watched her hungrily and savagely. Ruby crouched in a fetal position and whimpered and she tightly shut her eyes. She heard the growls becoming louder and getting closer. Even when Ruby had her eyes closed, she could feel the many eyes on her, getting closer. "Somebody please help me!" she cried out into the air. The growls tuned into a chorus of demonic howls. Ruby screamed in absolute terror and prepared for the end.

But nothing touched her.

She kept her eyes shut tightly, but she could hear many things around her. Ruby heard a loud WHOOSH and one of the howls stopped. The howls all turned into growls and lots of movement was heard. There were sounds of something cutting something and sounds of growls being silenced one by one. Ruby heard the ground being torn and plants being uprooted, and she smelled something strange. It smelled like the roses that her mother kept around the house, the sweet fragrance soothing her nostrils. The frightening snarls and slashing sounds slowly died down until they stopped completely, but little Ruby stayed in her position, whimpering and crying.

She heard soft footsteps getting closer to her. Ruby kept her eyes shut, afraid of what she would see if they opened. Suddenly, she felt a warm slender arm around her shoulder, pulling her gently to the side. She felt herself being enveloped in a warm and comforting hug, making her stop shivering. It was quiet until a voice came, "Shhhhhhhh, it is alright. You are safe now. The bad beasts are all gone." It was a woman's voice, it sounded kind and gentle, and very beautiful. Ruby stopped crying and went to mere sniffling. She looked up and opened her eyes just a wink. Through her watery tear filled eyes she looked at her savior. The tears in her eyes made everything blurry, but she could see that the woman was young, but not too young, and she wore a large red cloak like hers, but brighter and it went all the way to the ground. The woman had red eyes like the beasts, but they were not wild and evil, they were filled with kindness and good.

The woman smiled at Ruby, and Ruby let out a small sob. Ruby looked at the woman in red, she looked very familiar, and she looked almost like- "Mama?" Ruby let out the word in a cry. The woman's smile did not go away, but she spoke, "Hush child, it will be fine, soon you will be home."

Suddenly, hundreds of rose petals seemed to form out of her cloak and drift into the air, surrounding them. The smell of the roses made Ruby sleepier and sleepier, until she began to fall asleep. The last thing Ruby saw as she closed her eyes was the woman smiling and picking her up in her arms.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two- memories

Ruby awoke in the morning to find herself in her own bed at her own home. She slowly sat up and turned her head, her mom was sitting next to her bed, sleeping in a wood chair. "Mama," Ruby said hopefully. Her mother's eyes snapped open and she cried out in relief and hugged Ruby. "Oh thank heavens, you're okay!" she squealed in joy. Ruby began to cry in joy and hugged her mother tightly, "I was so scared mama!" she cried into her mother's chest.

They both stayed in the embrace, crying, until her mother spoke. "What were you doing going off the trail like that? I told you to stay on the path." Ruby looked up at her mom with tears streaming down her face, and then she too spoke. "I, I smelled something icky on the way home, and I went to go see it, but I got lost." She explained further, "I kept looking until I found, I found," she began to stutter. "It was a deer, that poor deer was all bloody. I looked around to find out who did it when," she started sobbing even louder. "Those, those eyes, those horrible red eyes, they chased me through the woods, I was so scared mama!" she buried her face back into her mother's chest and cried even more. "Its okay honey, you're safe now, you're home, and you're safe." Her mother said to her.

Then Ruby remembered that she was saved, and her savior had looked like her mom. "Mama?" Ruby asked. "Yes dear?" her mother responded. "Was it you that saved me?" Ruby inquired. Her mother looked at her with a confused look, "What?" she asked. "When I was being chased, I was saved by you, wasn't I?" Ruby asked more clearly. "What are you talking about Ruby?" her mother asked again. Ruby had stopped sobbing and the tears had begun to slow down. "I was saved by someone who looked a lot like you, but she had red eyes, and she smelled like the roses you always put around the house. She was very pretty and nice like you too. Was that you, mama?" Ruby asked the question with curiosity.

Her mother looked at her strangely, and she spoke in a confused tone, "When you didn't get back, we started to look for you. After the sun had set be started to think you were lost, so we looked around the forest to find you. Everyone else had given up and went home, but I and your father kept looking. We thought we might not find you, but then something happened.

We found a trail of rose petals on the ground heading into the part of the forest that lies outside the county lines. We followed the trail until we found a grove filled with roses and you were lying in the middle of the clearing. We picked you up and rushed you home, but we didn't see anyone anywhere near where we found you. You say you saw someone?"

Now it was Ruby's turn to be confused. She did not remember being in any grove, but her mom said there were roses and a trail of petals. Had the lady that saved her left that trail? She had lots of questions going through her mind but suddenly someone walked into the room. It was the chief of police for the town.

He walked up to Ruby and whispered something to her mother. Her mother turned to Ruby and smile, "Mr. Paul here would like to ask you a few questions about what happened last night, do you think you could tell him what happened?" she asked. Ruby looked at Paul; he seemed like a nice man. "O- Okay." She said quietly.

Paul sat down in another chair and smiled at Ruby. He spoke in a gruff, but honest voice, "Alright Ruby, can you tell me what you saw in the woods?" Ruby looked down and closed her eyes; she remembered every detail of that night. "I, I saw eyes." She said solemnly. "There were big, red eyes, everywhere. They were watching me from the shadows, and there was a lot of growling and snarling and, and howling." The chief and her mother looked at each other. "Howling?" her mother asked. "Sounds like it was a wolf," Said the chief. Ruby looked up at them, "No, I don't think they were wolves, they sounded bigger, much bigger, and they sounded more wild and, evil." The chief put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. "Well, whatever it was, we'll find it, don't you worry." He said. "But I want you to stay on the trail when you walk through the woods, don't stray. And don't go out at night from now on. Okay?" he asked the question, but it sounded more like an order.

Ruby simply said, "Okay." And he walked out of the room. Ruby's mother gave her one more hug and then left with him. Ruby lay back down and thought to herself.' What were those things? What happened to that deer? Who was that lady? What did she do to make the monsters go away?' As she thought to herself, an idea came to mind. She was very frail and weak. She ran from the monsters because that's all she could have done. She needed a way to protect herself. She thought back to the lady she had seen, and wondered, could she teach her how to defend herself? Maybe she could, but that would mean going back into the forest, off the trail. Ruby shivered at the thought. No, she would not go through that nightmare again.

After that night, things somewhat went back to normal. Ruby would sometimes have nightmares, but her parents were always there to comfort her. They did eventually let Ruby go pick up things from town, but they were now very serious about her not to go into the woods at night or ever stray from the path.

After a few weeks, Ruby got to know lots of people in town. Many of them were very nice people, and the few that were not were usually just trying to avoid people around them. Ruby and the woman from the bakery, Sonia, became friends very quickly. Sometimes they would talk when Ruby stopped by for some goods. One day, when she went to visit, Sonia had a surprise for her.

Ruby walked in the front door of the bakery, "Sonia!" she called. But no one came out. She called again, "Sonia?" but the bakery was silent. She began to walk around, looking for her friend. She walked around behind the counter, through the rows of shelves, and even the windows.

"Where are you?" she cried, growing more and more worried. "In here," came a voice from the back room. Ruby walked to the door, and slowly opened it. It was very dark as she walked into the room. "He-hello?" she called.

Then the lights came on. Ruby shielded her eyes, then looked up and gasped. "Surprise!" all of her friends were there. Her mother and father stood in the middle of the group, flanked by her grandmother. There was a large banner above them that said "Happy Birthday Ruby!"

Ruby stood there, shocked. But then Sonia stepped forward, holding the most beautiful cake she had ever seen. "I worked all night on the cake for you dear, I hope you like it." She said.

Ruby looked up at her, tears in her eyes. "It's beautiful, thank you Sonia." The party was fantastic, Ruby played with her friends while the adults conversed. And of course, they had cake. The cake was the best that Ruby had ever had. And she declared this party the best one she had ever had.

Ruby made friends with a few other children in the town, and they often played together, but when one of them wanted to play in the woods, Ruby would refuse and turn away.

There was one girl in town Ruby's age, her name was Bonnie. Bonnie and Ruby were the best of friends, they played, talked, and since they were in their pre-teen age and beginning to mature, they often looked at boys walking down the street and giggled.

There was one boy that they both really liked, Cody. He was the chief of police's son; he was very nice, and very handsome. The girls would always look at him running down the road and sigh with love. Ruby wanted to get to know him better, but she was still very shy, and didn't have the guts to approach him.

Sometimes Bonnie would come to Ruby's house and she quickly became friends with all of Ruby's family. One day, when walking through the trail to Ruby's house, Bonnie said something to Ruby. "Hey Ruby, this trail is pretty long, how about we take a shortcut through the woods?"

Ruby froze, images from that night a few years ago coming back to her head. She shook her head and said firmly and fearfully, "No." but Bonnie was getting tired of Ruby never wanting to enter the woods and decided to do something. She grabbed Ruby's arm and started to pull her towards the edge of the path and into the woods, "Come on Ruby, what's the matter with you and the woods?" she asked while tugging her into the trees. Ruby held her ground and tried to free herself from her friend's grip, "No, NO, NO!" she cried out loud and yanked her arm away from Bonnie and pushed her away. Bonnie landed on her butt with OOF, and looked up angrily at Ruby.

Ruby looked down at her friend, and realized what she did. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean," she began to get tears in her eyes. Bonnie's look of anger turned into a look of concern. "Hey, you okay?" she asked, and she put an arm around the now crying Ruby. "I, I'm fine." Ruby said, "It's just, I can't go back into the woods, I can't go through that again."

Bonnie looked puzzled, "Why don't you tell me what's wrong." She said to Ruby. Ruby looked at her, she hadn't told this story to anyone but her family. But it was about time that she told someone, and she could trust her friend.

She was about to tell her when she heard something that made her blood run cold, rustling. She slowly looked around, into the woods. Bonnie saw her looking around and asked, "Hey, what are you looking for?" Ruby looked at her friend and spoke quietly. "Listen Bonnie, I promise I'll tell you everything later, but not right now. Right now we need to get out of the woods."

Bonnie gave her a confused look, "What?" she asked, "Why?" that's when they heard it, a growl, a low, feral growl coming from the woods. Ruby gasped, while Bonnie raised her eyebrows. "What was that?" she wondered aloud, "I've never heard an animal that sounds like that." Ruby slowly turned her head, towards the direction they heard the noise come from. And when she looked into the trees, her heart skipped a few beats. There, in the distance, were two barely visible pinpoints of red light next to each other, watching them. Ruby whirled around to face her friend.

"BONNIE! GO HOME! NOW!" she screamed at the top of her lungs and dashed down the trail towards her house. She soon was out of the woods and in the clearing that her house was located in. She was panting heavily, and she turned back to look the way she came. She could not see her friend or the red lights anywhere. She sighed in relief and made her way to her house. When she walked inside, her mom went to her with a smile. "So, how was your day?" she asked nicely.

Ruby looked up at her mom, and that's when her mom noticed the look of panic on her child's face. "What happened Ruby?" she asked in a more serious tone of voice. "Mama, I saw them again! Those eyes, they were in the woods again, I could see them from the trail!" Ruby squealed at her mom.

Her mother's eyes grew wide and she rushed off to grab the phone. "Ruby, you should go to your room and rest, I'll take care of this." Ruby obeyed her mother's orders and went to her room and shut the door. She wondered, 'why were they so close to the trail?' she also wondered what to tell Bonnie, she hoped she had heeded her words and gone home, but Ruby would have some explaining to do tomorrow.

Outside the house, in the trees, there was a pair of red eyes looking at the house. Whatever it was, it growled, and licked its large sharp teeth. Then it turned and disappeared into the woods.

When Ruby woke in the morning, she went downstairs and saw her mother making breakfast. Her mom looked over her shoulder and saw Ruby. "Hey honey." She said lively. "I told the police what you saw, don't worry, they are out searching the forest right now." Ruby sighed, "Thanks Mama." She ate her breakfast and walked to the door and stepped outside. She looked at the now leaf covered ground, it was fall, and the trees began to shed many of their leaves. She wondered what Bonnie would say to her when they met up.

Then she heard a very serious "Ahem." She looked up and saw Bonnie, leaning against a tree, looking at her with a slightly angered face. "You have some explaining to do," she said, "Now spill, what happened that made you hate the woods and why did you freak out and run off yesterday?" Ruby sighed and sat down on the dry ground and leaned her back against the tree next to Bonnie. Bonnie sat down too, and looked at her expectedly.

Ruby began to tell her the story of that night years ago, when she wandered into the woods. As she got to the part when she first saw the eyes, Bonnie's look of anger turned to a look of shock and concern. Ruby detailed her pursuit through the woods, dropping and retrieving her basket, and being surrounded by the creatures. Then she got to the part when she heard the howling, and stopped. Bonnie looked at her with wide eyes, "Then what happened?" she asked. "I, I don't know. I heard lots of noise, like someone was there, and soon it was quiet. But then someone hugged me and said it was okay. I looked and saw someone, and she looked a lot like my Mama. She was wearing lots of red and she was very pretty, she told me I'd be home soon, and then I fell asleep. When I woke up, I was home." Ruby finished her story with a few tears in her eyes.

Bonnie looked at her with sorrow and concern, "I'm sorry Ruby, I didn't know. I shouldn't have asked." Ruby looked at her friend and smiled weakly, "No, I'm glad I could tell someone." Then Bonnie's eyes grew wide again, "Wait, you said you heard them growling, was it the same growl we heard yesterday?" there was a moment of silence, then Ruby spoke, "Yes, and when I looked at the trees, I saw the eyes, looking at us, and I panicked. That's why I told you to run; I saw one of those things again." Bonnie looked at the woods in fear, "Wow, I'm never going into those trees again, not after what you told me." But then she turned back to Ruby. "Well, whoever it was that saved you, she must be really tough, I wish I could have met her. I wonder if she is still somewhere in the woods."

This thought puzzled Ruby, 'was she still in there?' she asked herself. 'Could she still be in that rose filled place that my mom told me about?' the questions buzzed in her mind, but she put them aside for now. She stood up and Bonnie stood too. They smiled at each other and Bonnie said, "Well, it's a bit late, I should probably go home and help mom with the chores, see you tomorrow?" she asked. "Yeah," said Ruby. Bonnie walked back into the forest and Ruby turned to go home. As she walked back to the house, she wondered if that lady that saved her really was still out there.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three- searching

Things didn't change much after Ruby told her what happened long ago. Though, Bonnie heeded Ruby's words and didn't go into the forest to much anymore. She never told Ruby's story to anyone else. But every day, when Ruby walked along the forest path, she looked into the woods, wondering if that woman was still out there. She often thought about trying to find her, or the rose filled grove her mother mentioned, but that would mean going into the woods. And she definitely couldn't do that. It was just too dangerous, too scary.

But she did get more and more curious as time went by. Once in a while she would actually consider stepping off the path a few feet and calling out. She didn't see the eyes along the path after the last time she saw them.

Meanwhile, in town, Bonnie had finally gotten Cody to notice her and they began to spend more and more time together. Ruby was a little disappointed in herself for not trying before her friend did, but never the less, she was happy for Bonnie.

Eventually their friendship soon turned romantic, and they spent almost all their time with each other. Ruby was seeing her friend less and less. She began to spend most of her time at home with her mom, helping her with various household tasks. Occasionally, she looked around the closets to see if she could find a certain red cloak.

One day her mom noticed her snooping and asked her what she was looking for. Ruby was a little hesitant, but answered. "Mama, do you have a bright red cloak anywhere?" her mother looked confused, "No, why, do you not like your hood?" she asked, sounding a little hurt. Ruby's eyes grew, "NO, No, nothing like that. I love my hood a lot, but I was curious if you had anything like that." Her mother smiled, relieved. "Sorry, honey, but I don't have anything like that."

Ruby gave a slight frown, but accepted her mother's answer. Later that night, Ruby couldn't sleep. She looked at her clock; eleven thirty, it said. She got up to get a glass of water. When she entered the kitchen, she saw her mother there reading the newspaper. She was mildly surprised to see her mom, as was her mom to see her. "What's the matter honey? Can't sleep?" Ruby shook her head, and her mother smiled. She gave Ruby some water and then took her back to bed. When she tucked Ruby in, she kissed her forehead. Ruby looked up at her mom, and said; "Mama, I might be a little old now, but could you tell me a bedtime story?" her mother smiled and nodded. "Of course dear." She answered warmly.

She sat back in a chair near her bed and looked at the ceiling, thinking of a nice story to tell. Minutes passed, until her mother started. "Once upon a time, there was a little girl. She lived in a small town with her mother and father, who loved her very much. One day, the little girl was given an errand from her mother. She was given a basket of cookies, brownies, and other sweets. She was told to go into the woods to her grandmother's house and deliver the goods to her. Along the way to the house, the girl was unaware that there was a very sly wolf watching her. He smelled the goodies and wanted them very badly. He snuck up behind the girl, and snatched the basket away and began to run into the woods. The little girl followed him into the woods to get it back. She chased him until she got a hold of his tail, he howled, and dropped the basket. The girl smiled triumphantly, but the wolf was very angry. Several of his friends came out of the woods and demanded the girl give them the sweets, but she refused. They tried to take the sweets from her, but suddenly, a beautiful woman in red sprung from the forest, and chased all the wolves away. The woman helped the girl out of the woods to her grandmother's house. But when the girl turned to thank the woman, she was gone."

Ruby gaped in wonder at her mother's story, "Where did she go?" she asked. Her mother grinned and looked at Ruby, "I…She didn't know, she looked for the woman for a while, but could not find her. But she always remembered the kindness she showed, as well as the beautiful red cloak that she wore. Later in life, the little girl had grown into a lady; she met a nice man, married and had a child. A wonderful daughter, strong, pretty and kind. The woman remembered the woman that helped her long ago, and knew what to name her child. Ruby, for the bright red cloak that her savior wore." She finished her story and stood up.

Ruby was flabbergasted, "Mama, was that little girl in the story you?" she asked. "Yes Ruby, this is a true story, and the girl was indeed me." She kissed Ruby's head again and walked to the door. "Don't forget Ruby, once you know how to show kindness, you will have nothing to fear. Goodnight, my special little angel." She said as she closed the door, leaving Ruby in bed.

Ruby turned over, she thought about her mom's story, thinking how similar it sounded to her experience in the woods years ago. 'Was the woman in mama's story the same one that helped me?' she thought. She pondered this, and she decided she had to find out. Tomorrow, she decided to look for the mysterious person in red, and she was determined to find her.

The next day, Ruby stood at the edge of the forest. She had packed a bag with supplies; a bottle of water, some meat and fruit from the fridge, a flashlight, a compass, a whistle, and a hunting knife she had "borrowed" from her father's room. She breathed in deeply, looking in to the forest. She breathed out, and walked foreword, into the woods. She walked at a somewhat quick pace, not wanting to spend too much time in the woods. When she reached the deep part of the woods, she turned on her flashlight. She scanned the ground with the light as she walked foreword. The trees started to get thicker; the light began to slowly recede. She looked around, she saw no eyes, she heard no growls, but that didn't make her any less scared. She knew whatever they were, they were out there.

She gulped and quickened her pace. She occasionally ran into a thick branch and had to cut it with her knife, it sure did come in handy. She looked at her compass, it pointed southeast, she looked at the sky, and it was getting dark. She sighed, deciding to continue her search tomorrow. She sat down and began to eat some of her food. She finished and drank some water.

She was about to stand up and head back the way she came, but she saw something on the ground. She crawled over to it, and held her breath. It was a print of some sort, and it was very big. She couldn't shake the feeling that it looked familiar. She thought back to her time with father around the house, teaching her the various animals that roamed around, teaching her to identify them by print.

Then suddenly she knew what left the print, a wolf. She immediately stood and looked around; trying to see any sign that she was being watched, or hunted. Then she heard it, that feral growl that made her blood cold. Without looking, she ran.

She ran in the opposite direction of the way she heard the noise. She leaped over logs, ducked under branches, and pushed past bushes. She was better built than she was as a child, she was going fast, but she could still hear the snarls and crashing growing louder. Her flashlight scanned the ground for roots, and she quickly avoided them when they appeared, she could not afford to drop her things and have to get them back.

She looked up and saw a large tree, and grinned a little. She heard a snarl, closer than ever, and she made a quick leap to her right. She felt something large fly past her at the spot where she had just been. She heard the sound of the thing crash into the tree and a slight yelp, it sounded canine, like a wolf would make, but deeper and more feral.

Without stopping to look at it, she ran in the direction right of the tree. After several seconds, she heard the snarling and crashing, but this time they sounded angrier and more aggressive. 'Whatever it is it must be mad,' she thought to herself in both pride and fear. Then she saw a light in the distance, a white light between two trees. She turned in its direction and sprinted as fast as she could, so fast that she forgot to scan the ground with her flashlight.

Big mistake.

She neared the light and her foot snagged on a root and she tripped, but she placed her palms on the ground and pushed herself up and kept running, but now the sounds were right behind her. She was almost to the light when she felt something large and hairy slam against her back and she flew foreword. She gasped and braced herself for the landing, she flew through the trees and landed on the even ground, which was strangely soft. She grunted at the impact and tried to stand, but she was dazed by the impact from behind, she was still winded. She sat up on her knees and looked around.

She was in a large clearing. There were no trees, save for the ones that surrounded the clearing like a circle. But what caught her eyes were the flowers, there were roses everywhere. Covering every inch of ground was a ruby red rose. She gasped, she made it, and she was here.

Then she heard and savage growl and she turned to look behind her, and screamed. Her pursuer had the eyes, those evil red eyes. It stood about eight feet tall, covered in black fur. It was vaguely humanoid, but its limbs were strange. Its legs were double jointed, going out away from its body, then at the knee it went down and back, and then halfway down the shin it went down, connecting to two very large clawed wolf like paws. Its arms were large and beefy, with human like hands but with hair and sharp claws. Its head was just like a wolf, covered in hair with a protruding snout. It had blood red fangs and teeth that showed from its growling mouth. Its large ears twitched, and its large tail swished back and forth in aggravation. It had a broken fang, probably from when it hit the tree.

It stared at Ruby and she knew what it was. She had only heard stories about this kind of creature. It was said to be just a legend, but yet here it stood right in front of her. She had its name in her head, and she knew it was going to kill her. '_Werewolf.'_

She couldn't move, she was too scared, and it began to move towards her. It snarled and looked at her furiously, it kept coming until it was right in front of her, and she stared at it with wide terror filled eyes. It raised its large clawed hand in the air to strike and howled. Ruby closed her eyes and waited for the fatal blow. But then she heard the beast whimper she opened her eyes and saw it running full speed away from her on all fours until it disappeared into the trees.

She stared after it and wondered why it had run. Then she heard a smooth but calm feminine voice behind her, "Why have you come to this place?"

Ruby held her breath, she slowly turned to face the speaker, and her eyes grew wide in recognition. There, standing before her, was the woman in red.

She looked as beautiful as she did when she saved Ruby in the forest, if not more so. Her red cloak was as bright as ever, largely contrasting her pale skin. She had a solemn frown on her face and her eyes were hidden beneath the rim of her hood.

She stood straight and looked at Ruby. Ruby could not speak; she was too stunned that she had actually found the person she was looking for. Ruby realized she was foolish for thinking this person could have been her mother. They looked similar, but they had several differences. This woman looked younger than her mother, with flawless features and no blemishes. She was slightly shorter than her mother, and she gave off a feeling of kindness, but also loneliness. She pulled back her hood and revealed her face. She had a kind but serious look in her eyes. Her hair was the darkest shade of red, very different than her mother's brown hair. And unlike her mother's waist length hair, this woman had hair that only ran to her shoulders.

Neither of them moved. But then the woman spoke again, "Answer me, why have you come?" Ruby realized she was being rude, she quickly stood up and bowed, "I'm sorry, but are you the one who saved me a few years ago?" the woman's expression softened, "Perhaps," she said, "I have saved many people in my days, I don't usually remember every individual." Ruby looked up at her, "I was being chased by some of those…things. Were, were those things werewolves?" Ruby asked, wanting to confirm her suspicion.

The woman smiled, "Smart girl, you are very observant. Yes, the being that you just saw and perhaps what I saved you from before were indeed werewolves." She said calmly. She walked forward towards Ruby and stopped a few feet in front of her. She looked her over up and down. "Yes, you seem familiar; your red hood is not something I see often. I do believe I remember you; I did indeed save you from a small group of werewolves. So I am a bit surprised that you ventured back into the forest. For what reason did you do this and why have you come so far into the woods as to find my home?"

Ruby slightly grinned, "Well, miss…" she started but was cut off by the woman, "Red, call me Red." She said. 'Red, so that's her name.' Ruby thought to herself. "Well, Red, ever since you saved me, I couldn't help but noticed you looked similar to my Mama, and I wanted to see you again to see if it was true." Ruby said smiling.

Red did not look convinced, "But there is another reason, is there not?" she asked. Ruby dropped the smile and looked at the ground. "Well, that night, I felt so weak, so helpless. But you came and made them go away. You must be really skilled to be able to scare them away so easily, and well, I want to be able to do that too. I want to be strong so I don't have to be so afraid anymore, I want to be able to take care of myself and so I can protect my friends if they are in danger." She closed her eyes, "I, I want you to teach me to be strong, please."

She waited for the answer, but it didn't come.

Ruby opened her eyes and looked up at Red; she was giving Ruby a passive look, like she was deciding on something until she nodded slightly and spoke. "You seek power not to defeat others, but to defend yourself and those close to you. You have a pure heart." Ruby waited, waiting to hear the answer that would decide her future. Then Red stomped a foot on the ground, sending a swirl of rose petals around them and then slowly floating to the ground.

She spoke, "I will train you." Ruby's eyes widened and she smiled big. "Thank you!" she screamed and leaped at Red, embracing her in a hug that came up to her chest. Red tensed up a bit, before relaxing and returning a light embrace, patting Ruby lightly on the back. After a good thirty seconds, Ruby pulled away and bowed, "When do we start?" she asked lively. Red pulled her hood back up and smiled mischievously. "Right now." She said lowly.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4- Training

During the next few hours, Red taught Ruby how to survive and be able to move with ease. They practiced by running through the woods, dodging obstacles and jumping from tree to tree.

Ruby quickly got the hang of the swift and precise movement and soon was able to keep up with Red as they leaped through the dark woods. Ruby's eyesight improved drastically in the dark trees, and she was soon able to see how many hairs were on a squirrel's tail in little to no light. Her other senses improved as well: her nose had become keen and she could smell a bird in a tree from at least one hundred meters away. Her ears could pick up a butterfly landing on a flower. And she could feel the vibrations in the ground, allowing her to detect movements from a mile away.

Ruby and Red kept up the sense and speed enhancement training for hours until it got dark. By this time, Ruby was panting in exhaustion. Red looked up at the sky and sighed; she looked at Ruby, who was lying on a bed of roses.

"It is becoming dark; you should go home now and rest. We will continue training tomorrow; your parents will be worried if you are gone overnight. And I trust that you will be able to make it back on your own, given your newfound abilities."

Ruby looked at Red and nodded. She stood up and put her pack on, but not pulling out her light. Red called again, "Come back when the sun is highest in the sky." 'Noon,' thought Ruby. She walked to the edge of the woods and looked back at Red. Red smiled and waved, and Ruby did the same. She then turned back to the woods and started running. She giggled in joy at how fast she could move now; she jumped over roots and rocks and ducked under branches and bushes. She ran as fast as she could until she leaped into the air, she landed on a high branch and jumped from it. She jumped from branch to branch, tree to tree, with great skill. She slowed a bit until she stopped in a small open space, she looked up, and she could see the stars through the trees.

She smiled and closed her eyes, listening to the forest around her. She could hear several small animals scurrying across the ground, larger animals grazing in distant fields. She took in a deep breath, she smelled the roses from where she came from, the plants around her gave off an aroma of their own, and she smelled something a little foul.

She frowned, and turned in the direction of the smell. Eyes still closed, she ran towards it, the smell was getting stronger. Then she burst through a bush and landed in front of the source of the smell. She opened her eyes and looked down. There was a deer on the ground, it was just like the one she saw when she was nine, completely mutilated.

She then heard a sound that should have frightened her, but she simply smiled. The growl was coming from behind her, she turned around and saw what she knew was there. The great red eyes were watching her, and for the first time, Ruby felt unafraid of them. She grinned at it a yelled, "Not this time!" she turned and took off as fast as she could. She listened; the beast was snarling and crashing through the woods like always, but instead of the sound getting closer, it was getting further away.

She smiled and took to the trees, hearing the snarls of frustration fade into the distance, until it stopped completely. She laughed in triumph and broke through the trees. She landed and rolled, then stood up. She turned back to the woods in time to hear a howl of rage. Ruby giggled at the creature's anger, and turned back to her house in the distance.

She walked to it slowly, feeling strong, and happy. 'This training is going to be the best thing I've ever done.' Ruby thought to herself. She walked in the door and went to her room, passing her mother. Her mother didn't look concerned, in fact, she smiled. "Hi honey, where have you been?" she asked. "I was hanging out with my new friend; we're going to spend time together tomorrow as well for a while. So don't worry if I don't come home until late." She smiled and walked to her room. "I'm really tired now; I'll see you tomorrow morning." She said. She closed the door behind her and got into bed. She looked at the ceiling and closed her eyes. She fell asleep within a few minutes.

The next day, when Ruby awoke, she was full of excitement. 'Second day of training,' she thought. 'But I have until noon to do other things.

She walked downstairs, where her mother was making pancakes. She looked up at her daughter and smiled warmly. "Hello Ruby dear." She said, "Sleep well?" Ruby smiled back at her mother, "Yes actually, it was the best sleep I've had in a long time." Her mother grinned as she set some pancakes in front of her daughter. "That's nice to hear, enjoy your pancakes." She then walked back to the counter and read the newspaper.

As Ruby ate, she scanned the back of the newspaper with her eyes carefully, looking for any information on the werewolves. She saw nothing of relative interest, and instead focused on finishing her meal.

She finished and looked at the clock. 'Nine o clock, three more hours,' she thought.

She put on her cloak and started to head out the door, she wondered if Bonnie was free today. She said goodbye to her mother and started to head through the path.

She looked back and forth, but saw no eyes. She smirked, reveling in the fact that even if they were there, they could do absolutely nothing.

When she got to town, she began going in the direction of Bonnie's house. On the way there, she noticed something. The people seemed a lot friendlier. She didn't even have to say hi to them, and they smiled and waved at her. She saw one boy her age standing against a pole, and as she walked past him, he blew her a kiss.

Ruby hid the blush on her face. 'What is up with the people today?' she wondered. She reached her destination and noticed that Bonnie was outside, with Cody.

Ruby walked up to them, and they smiled at her. "HI Ruby!" Bonnie said. "Good to see you Ruby," Said Cody. Then in unison they said to her, "Happy Valentine's day!"

Ruby gasped, she had totally forgot about the fact that today was a holiday. She beamed and said, "So that's why people were acting so nice." She blushed again as she remembered the boy she passed at the pole.

Bonnie caught sight of the blush, and gave a sly smile. "Aww, does Ruby have someone she's thinking about?"

That caught her off guard, and she blushed a shade that would make a tomato jealous. "Sh-shut up," she said quickly, and Bonnie laughed. "Come on, I'm just kidding. Come on, let's go celebrate."

They left and walked around the neighborhood, giving hugs and blowing kisses. They continued until they reached Ruby's path. Ruby looked at her watch, it was almost noon.

'I better get going.' Ruby thought. She parted ways with her friends and went home. When she arrived, her mother was not home. Ruby assumed she went out to celebrate too. So she packed up her bag and left her mother a 'going out' note.

She then went back to the rose field. It was easy considering she knew where it was and her heightened senses. She noticed that there were none of the wolves anywhere, 'heh, must have proved to them that catching me is impossible,' she thought to herself.

She arrived at the field in around fifteen minutes. She walked to the center and took in a deep breath. The roses smelled amazing as usual. Just then, a gust of wind came, kicking up a few lose petals and overwhelming Ruby's nose with smells of roses. She closed her eyes and spread her arms, she felt like she was flying.

Then, she heard the soft sound of something lading on a patch of roses a few feet behind her. "Hello, teacher." Ruby teased. She heard a soft chuckle, Red was obviously amused by the title she had been given. "Hello, Ruby." She started, "Since you now have honed your senses and speed, you will be learning strength and stealth today."

Ruby turned to her teacher, eyes wide with joy. "Really?! How strong?!" she asked excitedly. Red didn't answer; she walked past Ruby to the edge of the forest, and stood in front of a particularly large tree. She lifted her right hand and held it out to the left, paused, and moved it across the tree quickly in a horizontal move to the right. Ruby waited, and then gasped as the tree began to fall over, cut clean through by Red's motion, but it was falling towards Red. "Watch out, teacher!" Ruby screamed.

Red simply raised her hand, and stopped the tree's motion, lifting it off the ground as if it were as light as a feather. Ruby gaped at her teacher's inhuman strength. Red opened her eyes and they began to glow bright red. The entire tree turned the same color of red, covering every feature of the tree. Then the tree began to dissolve, turning into hundreds of rose petals which were carried into the air by the wind. Ruby watched in amazement as the petals swirled around the stump where the tree used to be, moving faster and covering the stump from view in what appeared to be a rose petal tornado. Then the petals blew away from their pattern in all directions and drifted down to the ground.

Ruby was speechless; the tree that Red had cut down was completely fine, as if it had never been cut. In fact, it now looked younger, less worn down. Red's eyes stopped glowing and returned to their original deep red color. She closed them and spoke, "Where destruction goes, life must follow. That is the rule of nature." She walked back over to Ruby and waited for her to snap out of her trance. Finally Ruby found her voice, "Will, Will you teach me to do that please?" she asked, still slightly stunned. Red smiled, "You are not yet ready to learn such advanced magic. But I promise, you will learn much more in the final stages of our training." Ruby pouted a bit, which earned a giggle from Red. "Come," she said, "let us now work on honing your strength and stealth."

Hours later, there was no sound in the woods. Ruby was quiet. Her breathing was quiet, she moved quietly, and she used all of her senses to scan the area around her. She tried to locate her target, Red, who seemed to have blinked out of existence. Ruby swiftly but silently leaped from tree to tree, feeling the vibrations in the ground as she landed on each branch. She smelled for her master, which usually emitted an aroma of fresh roses. But her teacher had masterfully masked her scent. Ruby could see no living soul in sight, and she could hear nothing but the usual sound of the forces of nature and a few animals.

Then she stopped, her ears twitched. She heard a faint sound to her right; she closed her eyes and focused on vibrations and sound. Then she felt the smallest tap on the ground and heard a blade of grass bend. She opened her eyes and sprung. She reached out and grabbed her teacher, which widened her eyes, before smiling and opening her mouth to speak, "Well done Ruby, I could not sense you, so I had begun to think you had given up. I was about to come to you, but I did not think you had been so close. You have become nearly as stealthy as I in such a short time. Well done."

Ruby smiled, and let go of her master's arm. But then she felt a blow to her stomach that knocked the wind out of her. Red was grinning, "Let us see how you have improved your strength." She said smugly. Ruby turned serious and got in a fighting stance. They circled each other, waiting. "Waiting for the opponent to make the first move so you may have a chance to counter, very wise." Red lashed out with her leg, but Ruby ducked under and raised an arm, pushing the leg into the air and preparing to punch. She threw her fist but it met nothing but air as Red dodged and spun, backhanding the fist away, leaving Ruby open to an attack.

Ruby tried to get her defense back up, but she was not fast enough and was sent flying into a tree from a powerful kick. The tree cracked and started to fall; Ruby reached up and caught it, straining under the immense weight, and threw it at Red weakly. Red easily dodged it, then smiled and spoke, "Yes, use your surroundings! Make them fight for you!"

Ruby leaped into the trees, Red followed. Ruby quickly jumped up to a higher branch and threw some kicks at Red, who blocked each attacks. "Excellent use of the terrain, fighting from the high ground!" Red flipped back and kicked the branch Ruby was on, breaking it and causing Ruby to fall. Red landed first and delivered a knee to Ruby's back. Ruby gasped in pain and stood up, secretly grabbing some dirt off the ground. She looked at Red and smiled, before jumping straight up.

Red jumped after her and frowned, 'what is she planning,' she thought. Ruby looked down at the rising Red and let go of the dirt in her hand, and it fell into Red's face before she could stop it. Red and Ruby landed on opposite branches. Red tried to open her eyes, but the dirt blocked vision, "Very resourceful." She said.

Then Ruby delivered a powerful kick to Red's back, sending her flying to the ground, where she crashed into a bush. Ruby jumped down and waited, until Red burst from the bush, Ruby braced herself against the ground, and caught both of Red's fists. Red's eyes had no more dirt in them, and they glared into Ruby's eyes with determination and fury. Ruby glared back with equal determination. They both pushed against each other, both holding their ground. The ground cracked beneath their feet, the wind started to pick up. Then the struggle of strength was broken by Red, who delivered a head butt to Ruby, dazing her. Ruby was quickly overwhelmed by Red's power and was pushed to the ground. She gasped in pain as a fist was pushed into her gut, and she opened her eyes in time to see a fist falling towards her head. It made contact and Ruby passed out.

"You did very well," said Red, who was in the process of healing Ruby's injuries. Her hands were glowing red and had rose petals swirling around them as they magically healed Ruby's cuts and bruises. "If I were anyone or anything else, you would have indeed won. You have progressed nicely in our time together. Tomorrow will be the last time we meet. After tomorrow, your training will be complete." She said smiling at her student.

Ruby looked up with hopeful eyes. "What will we be learning tomorrow, teacher?" she asked. Red finished up the healing and held her hand up to Ruby, before the glow faded. "Magic." She said sweetly. Ruby jumped with joy and squealed, "YAY!" she noticed it was getting dark, so she bowed to her teacher and waved goodbye.

Then she took off into the woods. She was halfway home when she heard a familiar growl. She smiled and for once, ran towards the sound. She jumped from the trees and landed on the ground in time to see the monster wolf lunging at a deer. Ruby smiled evilly and leaped at the beast, kicking it in the side of the head, sending it back a few feet. The deer scampered off, Ruby looked at the snarling beast and laughed, "Remember me, ugly?" the beast snarled and its eyes glinted in recognition. It licked its broken tooth, angered that this girl had tricked it into losing one of its precious fangs. It got down on all fours and leaped at Ruby, who ducked under its attack and in one motion, thrust her hand up, into the skin, past the bones, into the chest cavity, and grabbed its heart, before pulling it out of the beast's body. The beast fell past her in a dead heap. Ruby stood and smiled at the creature victoriously. "No more." She said, dropping the heart on the ground.

The next morning, Ruby smiled gleefully as she made her way through the woods. She was still very proud of herself for her first werewolf kill yesterday. She held her head high as she ran through the forest. She arrived at the clearing with a large smile plastered on her face.

Ruby looked around; the trees had lost most of their leaves, and the bark was turning dark in color. The air was cold, and the wind chilled Ruby, making her shiver slightly. Winter was approaching fast, she briefly wondered if she would see snow soon, then she felt a presence closing in on her fast.

She quickly ducked under the kick from her teacher, and then leaped to the side as the heel came down onto the ground where she once stood. Ruby looked up at her teacher, who was obviously pleased that Ruby had sensed her and dodged.

The wind picked up slightly, and Ruby's short black hair flipped in her face, briefly obscuring her vision. Ruby pushed the hair out of her face and noticed her teacher was gone. Ruby widened her eyes and looked around, trying to find her teacher, but could not spot her.

Then, the roses around Ruby swirled upward and surrounded her. Ruby gasped and tried to find an opening in she petal tornado. As she was about to jump at the wall of roses, several petals flew forward in a red stream at her. Ruby jumped over the stream, which curved back to attack again. Ruby held up her arms in a cross to shield her from the barrage. It slammed her with the force of a car and angled downward, smashing her against the ground. Ruby ignored her initial pain and rolled out from under the stream, which dispersed, revealing Red, who was drawing invisible circles in the air in front of her.

Ruby readied herself for another attack, but then Red vanished, her body disappearing with several roses floating to the ground. Then Ruby felt a powerful blow to her back. She flew forward and crashed into the ground in pain. She groaned and looked up; Red stood up straight and smiled down at Ruby.

The Petal tornado dispersed, all the petals floated down to the ground. Red extended a hand down to Ruby, who took it and stood. Ruby massaged her back, and smiled. "That was so cool!" she said in joy, "Are you going to teach me to do that?" Red smiled, "Yes, but what I showed you was what you will be able to do when you learn to fully control the power. But first, you must know how it works."

They both sat down and Red closed her eyes as she began her explanation. "Inside of certain people, there is an energy that makes them different from others. This energy causes people to strive to gain power. But they seek the power not for the sake of being better than others, but for the sake of protecting others. The energy eliminates a person's evil desires and rids the body of sin; it drives out greed, gluttony, pride, envy, lust, wrath, and sloth. It purifies a person, so when they do feel these sins, they are not overcome by them. The reason I agreed to train you is because I have seen this energy in you, in the form of a pure heart."

Ruby listened with interest, not saying a word. Red opened her eyes and looked at the ground. "The people who are born with a pure heart strive to protect others and themselves. But not many realize the full extent of the energy inside them, and most do not realize that this energy exists. But the energy does more than purify the heart; it can also be used as a tool of great power.

It has three main purposes; healing, transporting, and destruction. Each of the three powers are unlocked by a different mental method. I will teach you the methods, but your heart is what decides how powerful and effective the energy is used. The first method you will learn is healing, the ability to regenerate things that have been destroyed."

She looked up from the ground and stared at Ruby. She reached down and plucked a rose from the ground, severing its stem. She held it out to Ruby, who took it and held it gently in her hand. "Close your eyes Ruby," Red commanded. Ruby did so and waited for instruction.

"I want you to imagine a field, filled with life, with several wild growing plants and animals." Ruby did so and smiled, picturing the wonderful natural view of an open field. "Now I want you to picture the field on fire, everything burning, animals running in fear. Everything around you is burned to the ground, the field you stand on is now a dead wasteland, and there is no life anywhere."

Ruby frowned as the image popped into her mind, she let a single tear come from her eyes at the loss of such beauty. "Now, take a step forward." Ruby began to stand, but Red pushed her back down. "Take a step forward, inside the dead field."

Ruby frowned, but imagined she was walking through the field. "Open your eyes." Red said. Ruby opened her eyes, and then gasped as she now stood in the middle of the dead field she saw in her mind. She looked around at everything that was dead.

Then she heard Red's voice all around her. "What do you think of the destruction you caused, how do you feel?" tears began to form in Ruby's eyes, "I feel, awful. Why? Why did everything have to die?" she closed her eyes and cried. She sniffed, and then opened her eyes, but her sadness turned to wonder at the sight of her tears, they floated in front of her, and then flew out across the field.

When the tears touched the ground, plants and grass began to spread, everything that was dead was coming back alive; all the destruction was being reversed. Ruby cried tears of joy, she smiled, and the land around her faded, leaving her back in the rose grove.

She then realized a glow, she looked down at her hands and noticed that they were glowing light red and rose petals were swirling around her. She watched in awe as the rose Red pulled from the ground flew down to its broken stem, then it glowed red, and when the glow stopped, the rose looked good as new.

"How, how did I do that?" Ruby wondered out loud. "Because you feel compassion for life, you can now secure it." Red spoke to Ruby, "You have found the healing energy inside you. When you wish for something or someone who is hurt to be relieved of their suffering, the power will come to you and fulfill your wish."

Ruby gasped in joy and stood up, staring at her hands, which began to lose their glow. Red stood up as well. "Now you will learn the transportation energy. When you wish for you or someone to escape danger, this power will guarantee your safety. But now, close your eyes again, but remain standing."

Ruby did as she was told. "Imagine you are standing on a mirror, with a mirror above you as well." Ruby imagined this, and waited for further instruction. "Look down, what do you see?" Ruby looked at the mirror below, and saw endless reflections of herself staring back. The effect of the two mirrors facing each other was making it seem like she was looking down into an endless abyss with many floors.

"Now, imagine the mirror cracking." Ruby saw the mirror crack, distorting her image. "Now imagine your closest friend next to you, as well as the person you look up to most." Ruby pictured Bonnie and her mother standing beside her, they both smiled at her. "Now reach out to them, but open your eyes before you touch." Ruby extended her hands to them and opened her eyes. With a shock, she saw herself exactly where she pictured herself in her mind. She gasped as the mirror below her shattered, revealing an endless drop into darkness.

All three plunged into the void.

Ruby screamed in fear, picking up speed. But then she realized that she heard no one else screaming, she looked at her mother and friend, who were falling beside her, she both were looking at her expectantly. And then Ruby saw them extend their hands toward her. Ruby was confused, but reached out to them.

But then Ruby saw a rope hanging from one of the illusionary floors of the abyss, and she dived towards it. She caught it and her fall stopped. She was about to yell in joy, but she looked back in time to see her mother and Bonnie fly past.

"NO!" screamed Ruby and she leaped from her rope back into the pit towards her loved ones.

But then, she noticed a light at the bottom of the pit, and she went into a dive to reach her loved ones before they hit. She reached out, and caught them both, and then they were engulfed in light. Ruby gasped and opened her eyes, she was sweating.

"Well done Ruby." Red said to her, Ruby just looked confused. "You could have chosen to save your own life, but instead, you tried to save your loved ones. You have realized the value of bonds."

Then Red pulled back for a punch, and Ruby was about to block, but then roses swirled around her, engulfing her in a red sphere. Then it was gone, and she waited for the punch, but Red was gone. Actually, to be exact, Ruby was now on the other side of the grove, her back against a tree.

Ruby stood, and was about to walk over to Red, when the same red sphere engulfed her. Then it was gone, and she once again stood in front of Red. Ruby was stunned, she looked back at the spot she was once at, and saw a flurry of rose petals drifting to the ground.

She turned back to Red and grinned, "That is such a cool ability!" she jumped in the air with happiness. "Alright teacher, I'm ready for the third step."

Red shook her head, "No." she said. Ruby froze and looked at her master in confusion. "What do you mean no?" she asked.

"I have nothing left to teach you. The third step is not something I will allow you to pass, for it will mean the end of you purity."

Ruby looked very mad, "What do I have to do, tell me!" she shouted. "How bad could it be?"

Red was in front of Ruby in a second, and had a hand around her throat. It wasn't a choking grip, but it was not gentle either. Her red eyes shined with fury as she spoke, "You must kill your loved ones."

Ruby froze. "What?" she asked in a whisper. "You heard me." Red released Ruby's neck and looked down. "I heard about this step in my training, and I was happy as well, but the price for power in not worth it."

Ruby looked down as well, "So that's why you taught me strength." Red nodded. "If you are attacked again, rely on your strength."

Then she looked up at Ruby. "Come, it is getting dark, I will escort you home." They began to make their way through the forest. They ran in silence, and they moved quietly.

But then, suddenly, Red stopped. Ruby looked back and almost hit a tree. She swung around it and leaped back to her teacher, who was looking into the distance with wide eyes. "Teacher, what's wrong?" Ruby asked.

"Oh No." Red said and then took off in a direction at full speed. "Teacher, wait!" yelled Ruby. She ran after Red, who disappeared through some bushes.

Ruby broke through and gasped. Red was in a small clearing, staring down at a werewolf, the one Ruby had killed yesterday. "Master?" Ruby said.

Red did not move, but then turned and looked at Ruby, fear evident on her face. "What have you done!?" she asked. "What do you mean? I killed it, isn't that a good thing?"

Red had fear in her eyes; she started trembling, "You don't know what you have done! You should not have killed a member of the pack! And you killed the mate of the Alpha!"

Ruby got defensive, "But you have probably killed some before! Why can't I do it?!"

Red grabbed Ruby's shoulders and shook her, "If you kill a family member of the pack, the pack will retaliate by killing your family! I kill them because I don't have anyone close to me for them to attack, and they know they can't beat me. But now that you have done this, your town is in danger!"

Ruby stood frozen, her mouth open in shock and horror. She whispered, "No, Mama, Papa, Grandma, Bonnie, what have I done?!" then they both froze when the ground started to shake beneath their feet. It was as if the ground was being trampled by a herd of elephants. Red suddenly grabbed Ruby's hand. "We need to get to your town now!"

Ruby nodded and they began to sprint full speed towards the town. Then they heard screaming in the distance.

'No', thought Ruby, 'we're too late'.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5- Tragedy

The duo picked up their speed to the fastest they possibly could, and then they broke through the trees and gasped.

The town was in ruin, people were running and screaming, buildings were on fire or being destroyed, werewolves were everywhere. People who were caught were being torn into a bloody mess, innocent people were being massacred in front of Ruby's eyes, and she felt uncontrollable rage.

She screamed a war cry and leaped at one of the beasts; it looked at her and leaped at her as well. Ruby ducked under the assault, and punched its chest, breaking its ribs and puncturing several vital organs. The monster dropped down dead.

Ruby ran on, until she encountered the next werewolf. She quickly jumped on its back and wrapped her arms around its neck. She yanked, snapping its neck, and jumped off its back as another wolf charged her. She landed behind it and grabbed its left leg, it snarled and turned to swipe at her, but she pulled its leg out from under it and then bent it, breaking bones. The wolf howled in pain and Ruby responded by bringing a fist down to the side of its head, fracturing the skull and killing it.

She saw two wolves coming at her from either side; she got into an interception stance. They both swiped at her with their claws. She caught their arms and she twisted, breaking the limbs. They howled and another wolf jumped at Ruby from the front. She leaped over it at it leaped at her. She let go of the werewolves' arms and split kicked them in the air, breaking the left one's throat and the right one's skull.

She landed and spun on her heels to face the one she jumped over. It turned to face her and ran on all fours toward her, bearing it's fangs to take a bite. Ruby ran at it, and it leaped at her. She ducked back and slid on her knees under it, delivering several rapid blows to the points on the torso that hid a vital organ. It died before it hit the ground.

She stood and turned to face more wolves, which were stopping their rampage to attack Ruby and Red. Ruby looked for her master, but could not see her. She heard the sound of metal slicing through flesh in the distance, and several whimpers and howls of pain. She smiled; the sound of werewolves being killed by her master was driving her wild.

She yelled insanely and leaped at her enemies. She killed many of them with ease, breaking bones or destroying vital organ, her bloodlust increased with each kill.

Then she felt a shadow fall over her, and she willed her sphere to engulf her. She closed her eyes, opened them, and found herself in the air, looking down at a confused werewolf in the spot she once was. Ruby grinned evilly as she flew down at the beast, and her kick connected with its spine, snapping it.

She jumped from its broken from, she felt drained and tired. Her adrenaline rush was fading.

She looked to find her master and found herself staring into the red eyes of a wolf. Ruby gasped as the beast backhanded her, sending her flying and the landing upon burning debris scratched up Ruby so much that she screamed in pain.

She sat up and tried to channel her energy to heal herself. But then she looked up to see the wolf leaping at her, going in for the kill.

There was a loud _BANG_ and the beast's side blew up, sending it crashing into a nearby house. Ruby watched as it disintegrated into thousands of rose petals.

Then she was yanked to her feet. She looked up and saw Red. Her hood was down, and her black jumpsuit showed between the divide in her cloak. Her red eyes were filled with rage and her dark red hair flew in the wind around her. A shine caught Ruby's eye, and she looked down at what Red was holding. It looked like a large mechanical scythe. It was bright red, with a hook on the opposite end of the blade and a spike at the end of the stem. It was the largest bladed weapon Ruby had ever seen.

Suddenly Red pushed her to the side and swung her mighty blade. Ruby looked up in time to see a wolf being cut clean in half, and disintegrating into red petals.

"Get up." Red commanded. Ruby stood and looked around, all of the beasts and all the people were either dead or had escaped. Ruby sighed, thinking it was over, when she heard a scream, a familiar scream.

"Bonnie!" Ruby shouted and ran in the direction of the scream. She rounded a corner and saw another wolf. It was glaring down at a young couple; the girl was hugging the boy, who had a large gash across his chest. The boy was Cody, the son of the chief of police and Bonnie's boyfriend. The girl had a look of terror and sadness on her face, she was crying freely. The girl was Ruby's best friend, Bonnie.

"Bonnie, NO!" but she could do nothing but watch as the monster sliced through her friend's abdomen, spilling blood everywhere. Bonnie fell to the ground, dead. The wolf turned to Ruby and was about to run, but then another _BANG _was heard and the beast flew back through a wall, its chest spurting blood.

Ruby turned and saw Red, the tip of her Scythe smoking. Ruby put the pieces together quickly; the weapon was obviously a long range weapon as well as melee.

She turned back to her friend and ran to her. She leaned down and tried to use her healing powers, but she could find no more energy inside her. She looked to her teacher, tears of desperation in her eyes, but before she said anything, Red spoke. "I am truly sorry, Ruby. But my magic cannot bring back the deceased, not unless they die during the healing process. She is too far gone, I am sorry."

Ruby closed her eyes and cried. She cradled Bonnie's head in her lap. "I'm sorry Bonnie, I couldn't save you." Ruby whimpered. Then her eyes shot open as she remembered. "Mama! Papa! Grandma!"

"No." said Ruby weakly. She stood in front of a ruined house. The whole thing had collapsed, and on fire. Ruby looked down in horror at the sight of her dead family, her tears streaked her face. "NOOOOO!" she cried out in despair and collapsed to her knees in front of her family's mutilated bodies. She cried and cried, the tears seemed to never end. She kept muttering to herself, "All my fault. All my fault." Over and over.

Red looked down at the girl in sorrow. She too knew what it felt like to lose everything close to her. She walked over to Ruby and put a hand on her shoulder. "Ruby, what do you wish to do now?"

Ruby stilled, and then looked up at Red. The look in her eyes showed nothing but rage and fury. "I want to kill them, all of them. When I'm finished, not one of them will be left alive."

Red looked at her pupil, face blank. She understood that Ruby could not be persuaded out of her choice. She nodded, "Come with me, I shall give you the power to do what you wish." Ruby stood and nodded, wiping the tears from her rage filled face, and Red led the way into the forest.

As they walked, snow began to fall. A few minutes of walking and the leaf-less trees and ground were covered in snow. They soon reached a clearing, and it ended with a large cliff. The view from the cliff was amazing, but that was not important to either of them at the moment.

They reached the edge of the cliff, and stood in front of a small stone. On it was a carving of a rose. Red turned to Ruby and spoke solemnly. "Take my hand, and we will put both our hands on the rose. My knowledge, my skills, my experience, all that which is mine will flow into you. With your newfound power, you will be able to fill your desires."

She held out her hand, and Ruby took it hesitantly. They reached down slowly to the stone, when Ruby stopped. "What will happen to you, teacher?" Red smiled sadly, "I will always be with you, but in heart and mind. Never forget what I taught you Ruby, and continue to protect people when I cannot."

Ruby let a few more tears leave her eyes, but nodded regretfully. They reached down and touched the stone, and were engulfed in a bright light.

Ruby saw several things; a house, trees, a little girl in a red hood. But it didn't look like Ruby, it looked like Red. She realized that these must be her memories.

She saw the girl walk through the forest, wolves, a man with an axe fending off wolves as the girl ran, the girl hiding under a bed as beasts tore through her house, the girl standing before a burning house, she carried her barely breathing grandmother through the trees, the man with the axe coming to their aid, the man teaching her to fight while the elderly woman watched on, the girl learning magic, refusing to complete the final step of the training by killing her loved ones, the man becoming angry and attacking the girl, the girl accidently killing her teacher, inadvertently completing the final step of the training, the girl wept, she was comforted by her grandmother.

She saw the girl find some sturdy metals from some nearby cities, putting the pieces together, making a weapon, she practiced with her large weapon, which resembled a large scythe, she dubbed it's name 'crescent rose', she perfected her teacher's fighting style.

Then she went into the forest, she tracked down several wolves, she used her skills to kill them all, she celebrated her victory, she went to her new home, only to find it destroyed by wolves, her grandmother had been killed, she wept again, and she swore to protect anyone and everyone from the beasts that ruined her life.

Then she saw a girl, who looked exactly like Ruby's mother when she was a kid. Red saved the girl from the wolves around her, and then left.

And finally, she saw one image, a face, Ruby's face. Then Red's voice whispered in Ruby's ear, "I will always be with you, in heart and mind, farewell, Ruby."

Then the light stopped, and Ruby stood. She felt different. She felt older, but stronger. She looked at herself and gasped, she now looked exactly like her teacher, every detail was exact, even the weapon that her master had was felt under her new bright red cloak. She was still the same age, so she looked like a younger version of Red.

Ruby got over her shock, and smiled. "Thank you teacher, and goodbye," she whispered. She was as strong as her teacher now; she had all the power she needed.

She thought back on her teacher's memories, and one final tear escaped her eye. She had as much a tragic past as Ruby did. She made a pact, 'I swear Red, I will carry on your legacy, and protect the innocent from these monsters.'

She and stood upright, a serious yet solemn expression coming onto her face. 'It's payback time.' She thought, as rose petal began to materialize from her cloak as it swayed in the wind.

END. FOR REST OF STORY, WATCH RWBY RED TRAILER.


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